Doctor of Education in Adult, Higher and Community Education

Mission

The mission of the Adult, Higher and Community Education (AHCE) Doctoral Program is to prepare students for professions in a variety of educational, government, community, business and industry settings. The program consists of a set of foundational courses taken by all students, as well as specialized courses in one of three major tracks. The Adult and Community Major emphasizes developing skills in management, personnel development, program planning and evaluation, and teaching related to adult learners. The Higher Education Major emphasizes developing skills in higher education administration, organizational and policy development, teaching, curriculum development, and social justice advocacy related to post-secondary institutions. The Community College Leadership Major emphasizes developing administrative and teaching skills specifically for community college environments.

Admissions

How to Apply:

Submit official College/University transcripts from each institution attended. These are sent directly to the Graduate School.

Submit official Graduate Record Examination Scores. Scores must be sent to the graduate school no later than one month before the deadlines listed below. Applications without GRE scores at the time of the deadline will not be reviewed. Please follow up with graduate school admissions to ensure your scores have been received.

Letters of Recommendation from 3 references.

Step 2: Upon clearance from the Graduate School, submit the following to the Educational Studies Department - EdD program directors based on your desired Major Track

A brief autobiography. (500-1000 words).

A statement of your philosophy of learning and education. (500-1000 words)

A three to five page statement that covers the purposes you intend to accomplish by earning a doctoral degree, and gives examples of the contributions you will make to the doctoral program.

A Current educational and employment vitae.

Evidence of high levels of competence in written and oral expression in English. Usually the essays written in completion of the application materials are adequate evidence, but additional materials can also be submitted.

Major tracks in Higher Education and Community College Leadership should submit items to Dr. Amanda Latz.
Major tracks in Adult and Community Education should submit items to Dr. Michelle Glowacki-Dudka.

Deadlines: Students can apply to the program by the following due dates. Please indicate the appropriate admission term on your application. These deadlines are subject to change.

For Fall Admission - All materials submitted by July 1.For Spring Admission - All materials submitted by November 1.For Summer Admission- All materials submitted by April 1.

Step 3: Admissions Decision

The department will carefully consider all aspects of your application shortly after the application deadline. As part of the evaluation process you may be invited to campus for an interview with the department faculty and program director. Admissions decision letters will be sent out by the Graduate School, and will be followed by an introductory email from the program director, if accepted. Generally, accepted students have GRE scores above the 40th percentile, and have a minimum cumulative GPA above 3.2 on their masters transcripts, though many aspects of an application are taken into consideration, including the content of reference letters; the applicant's professional and personal goals; relevant career or life experiences and accomplishments; evidence of advanced graduate study skills including writing, speaking, and completing research.

The Program and Curriculum

Degree Requirements

A minimum of 91 semester hours of graduate credit beyond the bachelor’s degree must be taken to complete the EdD degree.
At least 48 of the 91 hours, and at least half of required hours in the research requirement, the major, and the cognate must be completed at Ball State.
Students will earn 12 credits in the Core Courses, 21 credits in Research Courses, 24 credits in the Major Concentration (Adult and Community Education, Higher Education, or Community College Leadership), and a single cognate of 24 credits or two cognates of 15 credits each. Completion of the dissertation earns 10 credits.

Students will develop a course plan by meeting with their advisor or program director. Some examples of courses available to meet requirements are listed below, but are also constantly changing to provide dynamic content for graduate students.

Foundational (Core) Courses for all students

12 hours total

EDAC 631: Adult & Community Education

3 hrs

EDHI 610: Issues in Higher Education

3 hrs

EDCC 640: The Community College

3 hrs

And one of the following courses:

EDAC 700: Advanced Seminar for Adult and Community Education Majors

3 hrs

EDCC 700: Seminar for Community College Leadership Majors

3 hrs

EDHI 700: Seminar for Higher Education Majors

3 hrs

Research Requirements for all students

21 hours total

EDPS 640: Methodology of Educational and Psychological Research

3 hrs

EDPS 641: Statistical Methods and Educational Psychological Research

3 hrs

EDAC 710: Research Seminar in Adult, Higher, and Community Education

3 hrs

ID 705: Research Colloquium

3 hrs

EDST 650: Intro to Qualitative Research

3 hrs

EDST 660: Ethnographic Research

3 hrs

EDST 671: Evaluation of Educational Programs

3 hrs

Major Core Courses

A selection of courses are required for each major track, plus additional electives in the chart below.

The
doctoral cognate in Community College Leadership will serve a variety
of doctoral programs across campus. In consultation with their cognate
advisor, doctoral students will select the appropriate 24 credits from
the required and elective courses below. When a doctoral student
selects two cognates, whereby only 15 credits are required for each,
they will be taken from the required course list below.

Required Courses

18 hrs

EDCC 640: The Community College

3 hrs

EDCC 641: Community College and Diversity

3 hrs

EDCC 698: Community College Leadership Seminar

9 hrs

EDAC 634: The Adult as a Learner

3 hrs

Electives: (Select 2 courses from the following)

6 hrs

EDAC 635: Strategies for Teaching Adults

3 hrs

EDAC 648: Community College Education

3 hrs

EDAC 681: Managing Community Education

3 hrs

EDHI 609: Preparing for the Professoriate Teaching in Higher Education

Dissertation (10 hrs) By completing the dissertation students earn the final 10 credits for the doctoral degree. A student may not register for dissertation hours until all coursework has been completed, the doctoral comprehensive exams have been passed, and the student's committee has approved the dissertation proposal.

Total Hours Earned May Vary Students may find it necessary to earn more than the minimum of 90 hours to meet all program requirements and meet their own individual requirements. Often students earn 100 or more graduate hours beyond the bachelors degree.

Transfer Credits At least 48 of the 90 total hours, and at least half of required hours in the research requirement, the major, and the cognate must be completed at Ball State. Because of these secondary restrictions, most students cannot transfer all 48 possible transfer credits. Courses earned while in a previously completed degree (usually a Masters degree) can be transferred into the doctoral program regardless of time. Courses taken that were not a part of a previously completed degree must have been earned within five years of the completion date of the doctoral degree. The current University Graduate Catalogue describes the transfer requirements in more detail.

Residence Requirements Students meet the residence requirements by earning a total of 15 semester hours of credit in two consecutive semesters. Summer semester can be one of those semesters. The residency requirement must be met after admission to the doctoral program. If previous graduate work was earned at Ball State prior to being admitted to the doctoral program it will not count toward the residency requirement.

Meeting Times Classes meet in the evenings, weekends or other times convenient to groups of students to reduce conflicts with typical scheduled work hours. A few courses are offered by distance learning, primarily over the internet.

Time to Complete the Degree All requirements for completion of the doctoral degree are to be completed within seven years from the time of enrollment in the first course after the student has been admitted. After admission the student has two years to begin courses. The director of the doctoral program serves as a student's adviser until the student establishes a doctoral committee. It is possible to complete up to nine hours in one registration as a non-degree student. A limit of 9 hours of credit earned as a non-degree student can be counted toward program requirements if the student is subsequently admitted to the program.